Timetrvlr

RE: Gay Rights, why is it even an issue?, Can somebody come up with one legitimate argument? Gays do have the same rights as anyone else. Those who seek to deny those rights should always have to explain their denial of rights in Courts. When I say the same rights as anyone else, I mean the right to marry, the right to visit their partner in hospital as a member of the family, the right to adopt children if they meet all other requirements, etc. How dare anyone seek to deny the inherent rights of any other citizen! I'm an old guy, I've been married to the same girl for 52 years, and gay marriage has never threatened my marriage or family in any way. I do however, feel my freedoms threatened whenever anyone seeks to deny others their inherent rights for any reason.

Sorry, no test or quiz involved here, just how I think about the legitimate role of governments in our lives. I think the only legitimate role of any government is to do those things for us that we can not do by ourselves. Here is one example: I can get a job and earn a living. I can't build the road to go to work, I need some level of government to build that road that my neighbors and I can use to go to work. My neighbors and I willing are to pay taxes to build that road. We don't need a freeway, so we'll object if the tax load is too high. On the other hand, I'll need something better than a basic dirt path and we're willing to pay for a decent paved road that meets our needs. Pretty basic and simple political philosophy isn't it? However, it can be applied to most situations. How about you?

Yes it is! The whole concept is silly and harmful to society. Pot needs to be legalized and taxed and sold to those over 18. No, pot doesn't lead to hard drug use. Those who use hard drugs have tried pot but not all pot users try hard drugs. Lots of people assume that the only use for money is to spend. Others assume the only use for pot is to get high. Both groups are often amazed to find that money can be put to work to earn more money and pot can be used as a pain reliever without necessarily getting high. I'm old and sometimes I use pot in the middle of the night when everything hurts and I can't sleep. It works and I don't have to use enough to get high.

What is important to you? I have identified several issues that are important to me. They are: Universal Health Care Jack Layton's NDP has made a firm commitment to preserve and improve the present sytem and has earmarked a lot of money to pay for the upgrades. The Conservatives want to open up the system to private health care and that will destroy it. The Liberals are wishy-washy on the issue, I suspect they will open up the system to private health care also. Layton wants to fund the training of more Nurses, Doctors and other health-care providers. Isn't that a more effective means of shortening wait times? Child Care The future of our country rests on the shoulders of our children. They must have first class day care and better educational opportunities from pre-school through University. Since Mom and Dad both have to work these days, doesn't it make sense to have government licensed and regulated day care centres in every neighbourhood? These centres would filter out the pedophiles so prevalent in family-style day care and provide pre-school socialization and educational opportunities for everyones kids, especialy those from very poor homes. That's what Layton wants to do and it makes a lot of sense to me. Harper wants to give every family a check and let them fend for themselves. I'm not sure what the Liberal plan is, does anyone know? Higher Education Another thing that bothers me is the fact that ordinary working-family kids don't have many opportunities when they graduate from high school. Who can afford the high costs of tuition and books these days, much less the minimal costs of living? What's a kid to do? Either get a job flipping burgers or try to get into trades training of some sort. Even that's expensive. Essentially, we are throwing our young people away after high school; what a waste of young minds! Surely we can afford to spend another four years of education preparing them for the workplace. I agree it shouln't be entirely free but we shouldn't be burdening them with a heavy load of debt at the beginning of their careers. We must make higher education more affordable, not raise tuition fees! The Environment We live in a sick world. We dump all our emissions into the atmosphere, landfills, lakes oceans, rivers and then wonder why the smog is so bad, we find turds on our beaches, our lakes are dying and we have multiplicity of health problems. Should we change? I think so, if only to stop 2200 people in Ontario from dying of asthma every year. If we can save a few lakes and slow down global warming, well, that's just a bonus. So, which party is commited to stopping the environmental damage that our beloved corporations are inflicting on our environment? Both the Conservative and Liberal parties depend heavily on Corporate donations to fill their massive campaign warchests so they owe a great debt to corporations before they are ever elected. The NDP struggles along with mostly private donations from ordinary folks like you and I. Please note that the NDP has a comprehensive Environmental plan that will work and create jobs and create new technologies in the process.

RE: I have a different take on this. It seems to me this poll is indicative of core support for the parties. I honestly believe there is a large group of undecided voters out there of that won't make up their minds until near election day. A good many may not vote at all. I think this group may decide the election. The trick is, who can engage them; get them interested enough in their party's program to go out and vote. I say it's a horserace with no clear winners in sight. This will be an election decided by those that do the most effective job of getting out the vote. I suspect that Jack Layton and the NDP will pick up a lot more support in this election.